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ISU Recruiting vs. 2010 Opponents

Generally speaking, an incoming class won't have an immediate, direct impact (as a group) on the upcoming season. However, I thought it would be fun to compare how ISU recruited vs. its slate of 2010 opponents, based purely on the completely subjective grades assigned by Scouts, Inc. and analysis by ESPN (if available).

I left UNI out for obvious reasons: apples to oranges. Basic analysis for them is that they'll be good with the usual cast of mostly non-prototypical DI, full scholarship players.

Northern Illinois

No grade available for class, but the Chicago Tribune says this:

While Northern Illinois addressed the need for speed in its recruiting class, the Huskies also are aware that size matters.

Tyler Loos, 6-foot-6 and 270 pounds, from Sterling, Ill.; Tyler Pitt, 6-6, 278, from Georgia; and Matt Battaglia, 6-4, 270, from Marist and Harper Junior College, are among the offensive line recruits.

Iowa

Scouts Grade: C

ESPN sez - Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz finalized a 21-man recruiting class that features several of the Midwest's top players. The Hawkeyes didn't land any ESPNU 150 prospects, but players like offensive lineman Andrew Donnal, running back Marcus Coker, tight end C.J. Fiedorowicz and athlete A.J. Derby all should be key contributors. Iowa's class really bolsters the defensive front with five linemen and three linebackers.

Kansas State

Scouts Grade: D, 12th in the Big XII

ESPN sez - Snyder has a typically heavy mix of junior college players and five players who were on the roster last season but whose scholarships will kick in this season. The most important part of this class is that important depth was added along both the offensive and defensive lines. The Wildcats could have used quarterback Cameron Newton, who decided last month to attend Auburn. Instead, Snyder added three quarterbacks for what is a position heavy on personnel but a big question mark heading into spring practice.

Texas Tech

Scouts Grade: None available (yet)

ESPN sez - New Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville is slowly trying to change the culture at his new job.

His first step came with his first signing class, when he loaded up with 18 defensive players and only seven on offense.

"Recruiting is a three-year process and we did it in three weeks," Tuberville told ESPNU during its marathon National Signing Day coverage. "But you win national championships with your defense and especially defensive linemen. We've got a lot of offensive players back and we'll be exciting on offense, but I want to bring the defense to that level. To do that, you have to have a great defense and a great defensive line."

Utah

Scouts Grade: None - Rivals rates it #1 in the M. West

ESPN sez - The other saviors of the Utes' class were running back Lucky Radley and V.J. Fehoko, a linebacker and the only Hawaiian in the Utes’ class. Fehoko is rated as the No. 14 inside linebacker by ESPN’s Scouts Inc. The addition of Radley brings the Utes’ scholarship running back total to five, but that could move to six should senior Matt Asiata earn a medical hardship waiver from the NCAA and be allowed to play in 2010.

The Utes also picked up two quarterbacks in Brian Blechen and Tyler Shreve since Terrance Cain is a senior and the Utes will only have two quarterbacks on the roster in 2011. However, Whittingham said he doesn’t plan to keep all four at quarterback. He noted that Griff Robles, who will be a redshirt freshman this year, and Blechen are athletic enough to play other positions.

Oklahoma

Scouts Grade: None yet, probably an A or A-

No analysis (yet! weird) but a comment from ESPN: Oklahoma got a huge late commitment when linebacker Corey Nelson changed a long-term commitment to Texas A&M to come to the Sooners.

Texas

Scouts Grade: Uh, A, #1 in Big XII

ESPN sez - You hear it said that Texas coach Mack Brown picks his 20 signees and then everyone else may begin to recruit the state. That’s only a slight exaggeration. The Longhorns signed 12 of the 24 Texas high school stars in the ESPNU 150. Texas A&M signed three and Oklahoma two. A year ago, Texas signed nine of the state’s 19 players on the ESPNU list. I can’t think of a better match of coach and school than Brown and UT.

Kansas

Scouts Grade:C- 11th in Big XII

ESPN sez - Gill did a nice job of keeping the class together and adding a couple of impressive late gets in Bourbon and cornerback Dexter McDonald in the last days of recruiting. The loss of pass-rushing specialist Geneo Grissom was disappointing, but the Jayhawks regrouped and finished strong. They only signed one offensive lineman, but the Jayhawks have a lot of across-the-board young talent already in place.

Nebraska

Scouts Grade: C+ 7th in Big XII

ESPN sez - The Cornhuskers added a couple of late additions when Cooper and QB Brion Carnes joined on Wednesday. But they missed on the really big recruit when Owamagbe Odighizuwa decided to go to UCLA. Coach Bo Pelini doesn’t agree with the perception that this class is lacking on offensive playmakers. But there's no debate that he addressed most of the Cornhuskers' most pressing needs with a typically wide-ranging class with players attracted from 11 states.

Colorado

Scouts Grade: C-, 9th in Big XII

ESPN sez - The critics are out after Hawkins’ class, which featured no recruits with more than three stars and only two players from Colorado. It was the first time in Hawkins’ tenure the Buffaloes failed to crack the top 50 nationally in recruiting rankings. And they were hurt by the defection of RB Mister Jones (Texas A&M) and QB Danny Spond (Notre Dame), two top in-state prospects who both chose to go elsewhere after originally committing to the Buffaloes.

Missouri

Scouts Grade: B-, 5th in Big XII

ESPN sez - This is the best recruiting class that Pinkel has attracted in his 10 seasons at Missouri. Surprisingly, he almost admitted it at his news conference on Wednesday. It’s a class of depth that answered almost every need for the Tigers, with heavy emphasis at wide receiver and the secondary. The Tigers had the best class in the North Division and should have the personnel to keep them in the mix for the Big 12 North title for the next few years.

As has been mentioned elsewhere, Iowa State has been given a grade of C-, 10th in the Big XII. In the context of the coming season, that puts us on even footing with a lot of the competition we'll face.

Re: ISU Recruiting vs. 2010 Opponents

Caught this in a CBS sportsline article. This would not be good regarding Kansas State.

• Another cautionary recruiting tale: It was announced this week that Miami linebacker Arthur Brown is leaving the program. The one-time five-star prospect made 17 tackles in two seasons. Speculation is that Brown and his brother Bryce, a tailback at Tennessee, could transfer to Kansas State.

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